Gardner soccer team loses standing

Jim Wilson TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Published Saturday October 27, 2012 at 6:00 am

Updated Saturday October 27, 2012 at 9:00 am

An already tumultuous week for the Gardner High School athletic program got worse yesterday when the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association stripped its boys soccer team of 15 points — six wins and three ties — and a Central Mass. playoff berth for using an over-age player.

Gardner athletic director Nicole Therrien confirmed the MIAA's ruling last night. The Wildcats had an 8-5-4 record with one game remaining against St. Peter-Marian on Monday.

Earlier this week, the Gardner High swim team was forced to vacate its 2012 South/Central girls swim title for allegedly breaking the MIAA's “bona fide team” rule.

According to Gardner boys soccer coach Bill Van Valkenberg, the MIAA's latest ruling came after the school self-reported that it had unknowingly used a 19-year-old — a sophomore from Honduras, now living with a foster family — who did not receive the required MIAA waiver.

Van Valkenberg said he didn't learn of the player's age until three weeks ago when he informed school officials, who immediately reported it to the MIAA.

“I didn't think he was 19. He was just a sophomore,” said Van Valkenburg, who described the player as a varsity starter with three assists on the season.

He said the player's life story is one of courage and perseverance, but understands the MIAA's decision. Van Valkenburg said the player, the youngest of five siblings, attended school in Honduras until he was 11 before going to work to help support his family. His mother died when he was 4.

At age 16, the player made his way to the United States, Van Valkenburg said. The player told the coach he rode on top of trains, securing himself with a belt, until paying someone $500 to help him cross the Rio Grande River. But he was picked up by U.S. border control officials, who escorted him back to Mexico.

The player, Van Valkenburg said, then swam across the Rio Grande. After arriving safely in the U.S., he was placed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in a refugee community in Worcester and eventually with a foster family in Gardner, the coach said.

“He's an absolutely courageous young man and a fantastic kid,” the coach said.

Van Valkenburg said when he discovered the player's age, the MIAA's Sept. 22 waiver deadline had passed.

“We told the MIAA of the situation,” Van Valkenburg said. “After being told it didn't look good for us, the ultimate decision came down this week by the executive members that we played an ineligible player.”

The forfeited games cost Gardner a berth in the Central Mass. Tournament it last qualified for in 2004.

“It was a tough meeting,” Van Valkenburg said. “We kept holding out hope we'd be forgiven. It never occurred to me that this kid would have been 19.”

Van Valkenburg said he would never intentionally use an overage or ineligible player.

“We never, ever violated the spirit of the law,” he said. “It was part of an honest oversight on our part — this was missed by everyone in the school.”

Still, Van Valkenburg said, forfeiting the games was the right thing to do.

“I told my guys I wanted to do the right thing,” he said. “I wanted to show we were a program of integrity. Part of me said I could have kept my mouth shut, and I knew I was risking forfeiture. I still felt this was the right path to take. My kids stood up to me and I couldn't be any prouder of them. They told me I did the right thing.”